Contoured pillow



ept. 12, 1950 L. G. KASKEY ETAL CONTOURED PILLOW Filed Sept. 22, 1948 INVENTORS. 13 KEKasfia and aig lzjl df y (By W e L Patented Sept. 12 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- 2,522,121) P CONTOURED PILLOW Louis G. Kaskey and Mary J. Kaskey, Chicago, Ill. Application September 22, 1948, Serial No. 5 0,456

I M 3 Claims.

Our invention relates to pillows and has reference more particularly to a pillow which is speciallyshaped and contoured to conform to and cushion particular portions of a. persons body; such asthe neck and head; the middle of the back and various other portions of the body. The pillow of this invention is adaptable for a wide variety of uses, by automobile drivers and passengers, by travelers on trains, planes, and buses, for use by office workers and invalids, and for use in the home, hospitals, clubs and wherever a person may desire greater comfort or support for some part of the body to which the pillow may be particularly suitable. i

Primarily, this pillow is designedtoaccommodate a persons neck so as to cushion and support the neck and head comfortably when sitting, but it is also useful as a back pillow to provide cushioning and support across the waist-line and along the side portions of the back, and for many other purposes such, for example, as a leg or arm rest, to support the leg or arm at selected places. The principal objects of our invention are, to provide a simple and convenient pillow or cushion of such contour that it is specially adapte'dfor a variety of cushioning purposes; to provide the pillow witha neck accommodating recess at the front between laterally spaced pillow ends which engage the neck in a manner to support a persons head more comfortably than previous neck pillows; to construct the pillow at the rear for substantial bearing engagement, with a seat back or the like, whereby the pillow holdsa persons head quite firmly in upright positiongto construct the pillow endsand the interconnection therebetween so that the cushion is of appropriate shape to support and cushion a persons back; to provide the pillow in such shape and with suitable bearing engagement at the rear for upright positioning of the pillow ends sothat it is adapted toserve as an effective and comfortable cradle support for various parts'of the body, such as partsi'of the legs or arms; to provide'arear bearing engagement of the pillow whicheffects a rocking action of the pillow ends for holding body parts quite snugly in the front recess of the pillow; and in general to provide a neat,'compact and attractive pillow which may be readily manufactured and has a wide range of utilitythese and other objects beingaccomplish'ed' as pointed out more fully hereinafter and as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a pillow embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View on the line 2-'2 ofFig.1;and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of our pillow. i

As shown in the drawing, our pillow is of sub-' stantially uniform thickness and of generally elongated rectangular form with a relatively deep notch Ill in one lateral margin, hereinafter referred to as the front, said notch It! being ofsuch width to freely accommodate the neck of a person therein. Preferably, the pillow also has a corresponding notch I i in the other lateral margin, hereinafter referred to as the rear, this latter notch H being relatively shallow, as shown, and provided for a purpose hereinafter explained. These notches l0 and II, it will be observedfare located substantially midway between the ends of the pillow; and preferably both notches have side walls which converge to the bottom of the respective notch substantially, as shown, this convergent arrangement of the side walls of' the front notch [0 being particularly desirable to m;-

cilitate engagement of the persons neck'therein.

By reason of these notches, the pillow comjprises a neck portion I2 which extends between; and connects enlarged end portions l3 which are somewhat elongated from front to rear and have the neck connection l2 thereof near the rear ends thereof. Thus the pillow has a cushion portion I4 extending forwardly a substantial distance. at each side of the front notch 10 to provide adequate support for each side of a persons head. when the persons neck is in thenotch 10, where-,

seat the rear, the pillow hasonly a relatively slight rearwardly extending offset l5 at each end of the neck I 2.

While our pillow may be made in various sizes,

we have found that a pillow approximatelyisix and one-half inches wide and approximately.

three and one-half inches thick is a satisfactory and convenient size. notch is approximately three inches deep and five and one-half inches wide at the top and four, inches wide at thebottom, and the notch. ll ap-. proximately one inch deep, seven inches wide at,

the top and four inches wide at the bottom,

This pillow may be made in .any convenient.

manner for example with top and bottom fabric pieces lfiand ll of appropriate shape stitched as at I8 to a marginal fabric band l9-of appropriate With such pillowthe front.

suitably attractive for the outer covering, in which event the outer covering may be made with an opening extending across the rear and forwardly at each end of the pillow and closed with a conventional slider operated fastener, as indicated by dotted lines at 2| in Figs. I and 2 for convenient access for inserting and removing the filler. The filler 20 may, of course, be made of foam or sponge rubber or other similar material, molded to shape, and merely inserted in a covering with a slider fastened opening such as shown at 2 I.

The cushion may also be of collapsible pneii- Y matic type, made in bladder form with a.

described pillow shape when ini lated, Any con ventional facilities may be employed for inflating such cushion, as for example a small collapsible tube 23 at one end which may be folded and tied; as at 2.4. to retain the air in the cushion- As above noted, this cushion is specially adapted for use as a neck pillow to embrace. a persons neck and hold the head upright. Generally it is thus used when the person is in a sitting position inwhich event the pillow is. placed with the rear portion against the seat back and with the per-- sbns. neck in thefront recessv Ill; and the forwardly projecting end portions l4 extending; over the person's shoulders.

When thus arranged, the cushion bear against the seat back at the laterally spaced. rearwardly extending offset places 15. so that the neck por tion l2 ofthe pillow is spaced from the seat. back. and. free to yield rearwardly under the pressure, of the personsneck in the notch or recess Ill.

Thuswhen the pillow is used as a neck pillow in. sitting position, this. neck portion 12; of, the, pillow yields and conforms somewhat to,- the per-- son's neck and in so doing imparts a rocking effect to the end portions [3, of the pillow so that, the forwardly projectingportions 19 thereof tend to close inwardly. against thev sidesof theperson's neck and thus insure a particularly comfortable fit against the neck and very substantial sup.- porting of the headin upright position.

Moreover. by reason of the relatively flatwise engagement of the rear of the pillow against the: seatback and the relatively wide extent of. such, engagement, the pillow is quite securely retained; in positionagainstthe seat back and is not readily tipped or displaced; from that position, andconsequently. provides particularly secure maintenance of the head in its pillowed positionv against the seat back. By reason of its recessed contour and rear. hear-- ing arrangement this pillow. is. also. admirably adapted; when set upright on its rear ed e, to provide a cradle like cushion for 'supporting port'lons of the arms and legs. The rearbearing arrangement is suchthat it maintains an upright. position quite readily when so used, and the notched rear form afiords suflicient rocking etfect on the upright end portions 1.4 to clamp, and hold leg and arm portions quite firmly inthe notch 10.

such use the neck portion l2extends across the back, for example, substantially at thewaist line, anda-ffordsa light comfortable cushioning at that place, while the end portions l3- extend' upright;

Moreover, by reason of itscontour this pillow is especially appropriate for back cushion. In,

v ibletoclosethe slit.

4 at each side of the back so that the cushioning is so distributed that the cushion is particularly appropriate and restful for a back support.

Obviously this pillow may be used for many purposes other than those particularly mentioned above, and is simple, compact, convenient and of great utility.

While we have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, we are aware that changes can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of our invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

i. Apillow of the class described of oblong generally rectangular shape with a relatively large outwardly flared neck receiving notch at the front. substantially midway between the ends of the pillow, said notch having opposed side walls which slope abruptly toward the rear of the pillow and said pillow having top and bottom faces which are substantially: parallel.

2. Jim a pillow of. the class described the combination of an outer casing and. a. filler, said outer casing.- comprising. a top panel, a bottom panel, anda peripheral strip,.each of said panels being of substantially rectangular shape with a corresponding. truncated V-notch. in one side hereoi. substantially midway between therespective ends thereof, said peripheral stripv being secured along one margin to the periphery of the top panel and. along the other marginto theaperi hery oi. the bottom panel to form the outer. easinsl and. said. filler comprising a compressible cushioning medium and being enclosed within saidouter casing.-

3. A, pillow, of; the. class, described comprising-a casing and; a1 filler'within the casing, said casing haying top and bottom panels of; substantially identical elongated generally rectangular shape. with a deep notch, in. the corresponding long side at each substantially midway between. the ends. thereof, and a peripheral strip which extends around the pillow between said. top and bottom panelsand has the top and bottom margins there.-

of securedrespectively to. the margins of said top. and. bottom panels, said filler being a compressible' medium ofashape corresponding to the. interior of the casing, said peripheral strip hav-v ing a slit extending lengthwise thereof from end' to end of the pillow at the side thereof remote from the notches of the top and bottom panels, said slit being continued-part way along each endof thepillow, and closing means extending along opposite sidesof the slit and releasably connect-'- LOUIS- G. KASKEY. MARY J KASK'EY.

REFERENCES CITED The following-references are of record in the file o-fthispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS. 

